The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team made its mark nationally with last year’s trip to the NAIA World Series.

Despite losing 17 seniors to graduation, the Sand Sharks received some major respect with a No. 21 ranking in the preseason coaches poll.

But head coach Bryan Lewallyn dismissed any talk of big expectations in the lead up to this season.

“We had a phenomenal year,” Lewallyn said. “We’ve got some guys that were a part of that team and know what it takes, but that’s not even something we’re worried about right now.”

USCB hosts Shawnee State (Ohio) in a doubleheader at noon today at the Richard Gray Sports Complex in Hardeeville to complete its opening weekend.

The Sand Sharks were set to begin the season with two games against the Bears on Saturday afternoon. The USCB softball team got started with a Saturday doubleheader against St. Andrews of North Carolina.

The high hopes for Lewallyn’s team will largely hinge on its ability to replace a pair of starting pitchers who carried the Sand Sharks to their first World Series appearance.

Seniors Michael Heesch and Adam Miller finished first and third, respectively, in NAIA Division I in innings pitched last season. Heesch was selected in the eighth round by the Chicago Cubs to become the second draft pick in USCB’s four-year history.

“There’s no replacing a guy like Mike Heesch or Adam Miller,” fifth-year senior pitcher Kyle McCullough said. “I think it will be more of a collective effort.”

Lewallyn said he doesn’t expect anyone on the pitching staff to take over and throw as many innings as Heesch or Miller. He hopes a deeper staff will come close to matching the duo’s production.

“I think it would be unrealistic for us to try and ask anyone to match what those guys did last year — just phenomenal years for both Heesch and Miller,” Lewallyn said. “Our expectations are to kind of spread the load out a little bit. I think we certainly have some guys who are capable of doing some really good things, but the kind of years those guys had are hard to come by.”

Much is expected from the USCB softball team as well, as the Sand Sharks were voted preseason favorites in the Sun Conference to begin their second season.

Coach Ty Rietkovich returns every starter from last year’s inaugural team and a solid recruiting class gives him more depth to work with in year No. 2.

“The five newcomers we’ve brought in are pushing everybody to be better,” Rietkovich said. “You’re going to see them playing a lot, and our players who return know that. You may not see the same nine (starters) that you saw last year because some people are pushing for spots.”

Second baseman Katie Rietkovich, a former Georgia transfer and the coach’s daughter, said the preseason vote by league coaches provided some off-season motivation.

Like their counterparts in baseball, the Sand Sharks are no longer just a fledgling team. They are widely seen as Sun Conference contenders.

The softball team hosts Southern Wesleyan in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“That shows other teams respect you,” Katie Rietkovich said. “But it makes us feel like, ‘Hey, they’re after us.’ To know we’re the team they want to beat, that makes us go harder.”

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